Monday, April 28, 2008

using Laura's (http://handwerkstextiles.com/) hand dyed superwash wool, i somehow cranked out a pair (using the 72 cyll) out in under 3 hours! woohoo a new record for moi. i also mangaged not to drop a stitch during the 45 rows using the ribber on the 2nd sock too. another first! i am still struggling to find out how to get snugger fitting socks. the gauge SEEMS right (going to have to put a measuring tape to 'em) but they're still a bit floppier then i'd like them to fit. this pair is going to a friend for a belated birthday. i'm packaging it in a sushi togo tray, each one rolled up like a sushi roll. (pic later)

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Lucas Lights joke; the three-position Lucas [purlgurl's brain] switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF applied to me in the understanding of short rowing socks, specifically when it came to making the 2nd half of the toe. I tend to run before I learn to walk, so I've NEVER finished a handknitted sock, but I've finished a few pairs on my circular knitting machine. I can't really even claim to have the 2nd sock syndrom as I have never really finished a FIRST one either! I've tried toe up and it's variations a half a dozen or so times and have a few cuff downs in various stages of completion, but none have made it off the needles.

So, I decided it was time...mind you I still have yet to finish the first pair as I am JUST finishing the first toe portion. I started with Wendy's Toe-Up Sock Pattern. I've followed her blog on and off for a few plus years now and found it listed on Ravelry after an "easy sock" pattern search. All went well until I hit the section, "Now you'll work the second half of the toe"...yeah right! I read, them over and over and I just didn't get the instructions (sorry Wendy). I guess I'm lame. I prefer knitting instructions and things in explained in general with clear "a picture is worth a thousand word" images and good use of the English written language. So, I did a few searches and in googling "short row toe" came up with Jill's Short-Roe Toe Sock instructions. It was JUST what I was looking for and there weren't even pics to boot:

Short rows for second half of toe:

Knit Row: Knit across to wrapped stitch, slip the wrapped stitch to the right needle, reach left needle under the wrap and pull the wrapped stitch out and onto left needle. Slip the (now freed) wrap back to the left needle and knit the stitch and the wrap together through the back.

Yarn forward, slip next stitch to right needle, yarn back, slip the stitch back to left needle. (This stitch now has 2 wraps. When you unwrap it later, those 2 wraps will fill in where a gap might have occurred.) Turn.

Purl Row: Purl across to wrapped stitch, slip the wrapped stitch to the right needle, reach left needle under the wrap and pull the wrapped stitch out and onto left needle. Slip the (now freed) wrap back to the left needle and purl the stitch and the wrap together.

Yarn back, slip the next stitch to right needle, yarn forward, slip the stitch back to left needle to create another double wrap. Turn.

Continue working the knit row and the purl row until you have worked all the wrapped stitches. You will be unwrapping two wraps from each remaining wrapped stitch.

THANK YOU JILL! I can now continue (using both patterns and maybe more) and more likely now to complete atleast ONE toe up sock in my lifetime. :) Muhwah!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

a local gallery and shop has a show up right now and some pretty cool pieces. i ended up purchasing Sheepstack and get to pick it up after the show ends on the 20th. the artist has another one called Lambstack, similar to the one i got and it's still available. they're both framed in some really cool ornate vintage frames and i plan on hanging it in my office/craft/guest room. support local artists and run down and get the other one now! i should have bought them both, as they'd look nice together as a set, but alas...

Monday, April 14, 2008

so it was last sunday that i catapulted myself over the handlebars of my friend's honda 150. by tuesday, i thought i had possibly fractured a few riblettes, so i drove myself to the minor injury center at kaiser walnut creek. kaiser oakland is closer to me, but i'd have had to wait in the ER to be seen and i'd likely still be waiting there today. the doc who saw me said there wasn't much he could do for fractured ribs, but pain meds. he decided to x-ray my chest and left hand since i told him i was planning on doing the wildflower triathlon the first weekend in may.

after returning to the MIC after getting my x-rays, the doc informed me that i had no rib fractures, but likey my left hand was fractured. i ended up leaving the place with a removable cast. by friday i was feeling a thousand times better (still in alot of pain but improving day by day) and asked my primary care physician to review the x-rays as i was doubting the original docs diagnosis. she confirmed along with a radiologists that i did not have a hand fracture, so off went the cast and i've just been splinting the pinky and ring finger together to protect it from my clumsy actions.

i tried swimming a few laps on saturday, but bailed on that fairly early as heavy breathing really hurts the ribs and opted for the hot tub soak instead. i have swim practice on tuesday night. it is my goal to show up. i don't know how much of the workout i'll be able to do, but i'll give it a go.

It's written for kiddlettes, but I see that the author of the pattern kicked out the extra sts needed for a big kid like me too. It's the emma's unmentionables pattern in knitty. I figure I live in an area where pretty much anything goes, so here goes! Well, in the Ravelry queue it goes. Here's the big kids version...and one more shot of it here.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Well, I'm banged up from my ribcage on down to my hip bone and the bruise on my hip is pretty nasty looking now. A little road rash and mainly my damaged ego. Sigh...A group of us went to one of the OHV (off highway vehicle) areas in San Luis Resevoir State Recreation Area in Gustine, CA about 2 hrs. from Berkeley on Sunday. It was my first time out on a dirt bike. I had a blast tooling around on my friends' various dirt bikes. Later that afternoon I got a little too confident and followed a more experienced rider on a few whoopdies a bit too fast. Well there were 3 in sucession that I did not realize were pretty hairy...I made the first two but supermanned the third. As a result, I am now typing with my right hand as my left is in a cast and my ribcage is bandaged up. As I was teasing one of my other triathlon training buddies who fractured her riblettes (mine are JUST bruised) while snowboarding..."there has got to be easier ways out of doing triathlons than this"...she was riding with us on Sunday too. She faired much better than I. In fact EVERYONE faired better than I. ;)

I'm hosting another knitting squad get together at my house this weekend. I can't handknit, but maybe I'll be able to CSM it instead.

Friday, April 4, 2008

I was looking for the Setsuko Torii book on and off for a little while now, but then stumbled across the HabuTextiles group in Ravelry and all the homework was done for me :).I just had to go to the website mentioned and plunked down $37.75 smakeroos and now I await my very own copy of Setsuko Torii Hand Knit Works !!! Yippy!

I had the pleasure of visiting Habu's shop in NYC almost a year ago to date. A gamelan group I used to play in toured the East Coast. I took the opportunity to visit the various yarn shops in the area and even got to catch the Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting exhibit at the Museum of Arts & Design across from MoMA. It was all so very, very, cool. Not to mention the weather...it was freezing there at that time!!! Brrr...

Here's the little preemie hat I kind of knitted up quickly (for me). I used Bamboozle (Fall Herbs #9808) on size 3, 40" circs using the magic loop method. The only thing I did not like about Bamboozle was that I was constantly splitting the yarn and having to re-do stitches. It feels nice once all knitted though and I do like the fabric it produces and it is stretchy. The little <3 s around the hat get lost in the varigation of the colors, but the LOVE is there. ;)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

I had a group of friends over my place for a knit fest this past weekend and got to demo my Legare. It was supposed to be a time where we got to work on UFOs or WIPs, but that wasn't the case for myself. I did teach a friend to knit and she's working on her first scarf with Manos yarn from my stash. Nice friend eh? ;)

I haven't been handknitting lately because I'm too busy trying to work out the dealio on the sock machine. Some friends of mine just had a baby boy this past weekend. He's a preemie and came in just over 3 lbs. I thought it would be nice to handknit him a little hat. I found CarissaKnits' site on Ravelry and have cast on for the "<3" version.